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Shutting Down Reason & Commonsense

This is really simple stuff, but it’s made complicated by all the noise and posturing. We’re going to shutdown the government and hurt the economy in general and both investors and working people on the micro level. We’re going to do this not because all the Republicans are idiots or hate America. And not because ObamaCare is so bad that it’s preferable to ruin the economy now instead of letting The Affordable Health Care Act ruin it later.

The simple truth is that Speaker Boehner values his position as Speaker of the House more than the welfare of the nation. He doesn’t believe that shutting down the government will stop ObamaCare. Nor does he believe that this Tea Party driven brinksmanship is good for either governance or the governed. He knows that if he allowed the Congress to vote, they would pass the Continuing Resolution. However, he is not allowing an up or down vote because he is invoking the Hastert Rule. This unwritten stratagem says that unless you have a majority of Republicans likely to support a bill, you mustn’t allow a vote.

This decision holds the nation hostage to both the sincere Tea Party people and the cynical and cowardly folks who are afraid that they’ll be “primaried,” that is, face a primary opponent from the extreme right. Thus there are no “Profiles in Courage” right now from the moderate grown-ups and fiscal conservatives.

Driving up to the cliff every couple of months, or with the debt ceiling debate coming, every couple of weeks, is bad. But worse than just being bad, it’s done with no legitimate expectation of success. Obama isn’t going to throw out his signature accomplishment for the sake of a resolution that is so short-term that we’ll be revisiting it in a little over a month.

Nor have the Democrats played this very well over the weekend. After the Congress sent their poison pill of a bill over to the Senate, not meeting on Sunday and waiting till afternoon on Monday didn’t signal a sense of urgency. Sen. Reid has been proclaiming verbally that this is a rapidly approaching crisis. Taking a day and a half off undercuts his message and credibility.

Ted Cruz talks about “career Politicians”. What does he think he is? What has he done besides tell lies about who is or is not for expanded health care in our country. He is proposing economic disaster to prevent legislation that has been passed and signed into law and reviewed by the Supreme Court from going into effect. Sore loser. Princeton and Harvard should revoke his diplomas. He is an educated , but faulty thinker in the light of Michele Bochman and Sarah Palin. He is no better and will also fade into darkness. This is about him and the feckless John Bohener. There is nothing that the Democrats could do to head these tea baggers off. It’s time for the real Republicans to move Sen Cruz’s office to the basement.

jonathandobrer

Well said. The only thing I’d add is that I think he is smart–but cynical. He seems to me to be a person of unbridled ambition. He errs in his bomb-throwing ways, because he has fans in low places but no friends.

Tzipporah

I think that Senator Cruz thinks he’s a politician who thinks he’s helping the people. I don’t know where you’re getting your information, but he’s only been a Senator for a little over a year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz.